just recording things that make an impression on me...for whatever reason

11 December 2010

ice on the river

so cold has it been this week that small ponds and streams have begun to ice up. i was surprised to find the edges of this quick moving river showing ice. yet isolated spots in wetlands are covered in a glassy grey sheet of ice from edge to edge and larger lakes are ringed in white shoreline. it seems this all happened rather quickly, but it's mid december, and it's time.

13 comments:

We Dutch people would be testing whatever ice there was for skating conditions and try it out as soon as possible at the risk of falling in. That's because every winter we are bit by the skating madness bug. We can't wait for there to be a few centimeters of ice to skate on, even if it is dangerous.

Nora: every time i see ice like that - all glossy and smooth, not yet touched by snow - i am reminded of the frozen creek behind my childhood home and how i loved to skate there. i have to fight the urge to go and try it out!

Immediately came to mind the lovely Early American portrait, "The Skater," by Stuart, now at the National Gallery, WADC: http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=39456+0+none, and at least two Bruegel paintings with skaters: http://cordovero.blogspot.com/2007/11/invierno-inverno.html, cut-and-paste the addresses into your browser, or just use the Google image search, enjoy!

Star:i have seen Gilbert Stuart's The Skater many times and i love it. it's so grey and calm and peaceful-looking. to my recollection, i have never seen the Bruegel skaters, although, and really enjoyed them both, especially Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap. what amazing detail in this work! thanks for leading me there!

I grew up with a park (dense forest) down the street from our home. Akron has beautiful and wild city parks. There is a pond we anxiously awaited to freeze so we could skate. I skated and sledded my whole childhood in that wooded land and miss it. This photo of yours reminds me of my childhood place.

So glad you enjoyed the leads to the paintings with skating. I have to enjoy it, vicariously. Growing up in a warm climate, ice skating wasn't an option, but my parents did spring for one lesson at the rink, when I was little: we learned to fall down properly!

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